>>heads up moron kisses like a dog and doesn't ask permission before his paws wander
Even after having walked around for quite a while, he still couldn't tell which direction was which.
But the scent of the Hundred Butterfly Fragrance in the air was becoming stronger. This scent caused those exposed to it for too long to have heightened emotions and enhanced senses, and induced them to do all manners of unreasonable things.
Mo Ran gradually grew increasingly agitated and restless. It was as if a flame had been lit in his stomach and was slowly boiling the blood coursing through his body.
Water, he needed to find some water. Where was that spring again?
He knew there was a spring in the illusory realm. He was already parched and dizzy by the time he'd found it in his last life, and, having no other choice, had scooped and drunk several handfuls of the water, thinking that death by poison was still preferable to death by thirst.
He'd felt his consciousness becoming blurrier and blurrier after drinking the spring water. He'd been fading in and out of consciousness by the time Shi Mei found him; Shi Mei cultivated the healing arts and had promptly set about dispelling the poison in his body. And he, dizzy and addled, and under the poison's influence at that time, had kissed Shi Mei on the lips as if possessed.
The ex-emperor of the human world was swift as the wind and forceful like thunder, and desperately wanted a repeat of his dream-like encounter with the person of his desires. He wandered around the illusory realm for a long while before finally hearing the tinkling of spring water. Overjoyed, he dashed over and drank to his heart's content without hesitation.
As expected, the spring water exacerbated the fretful agitation brought about by the scent even more. He uncontrollably wanted nothing more than to go deeper into the spring, and half his body was already submerged before he knew it.
And just like in the last lifetime, as Mo Ran was about to lose consciousness, a hand suddenly pulled him up, sending water flying everywhere. Air rushed back into his nose and Mo Ran gasped, eyelashes dangling with water droplets fluttering open to look at the figure in front of him.
The figure slowly came into focus, accompanied by a voice that sounded almost angry.
"What's wrong with you, drinking the water here, are you trying to die?"
Mo Ran shook the water off like a wet dog and breathed in relief when he confirmed who it was. "Shi Mei…"
"Stop talking and take this medicine!"
Mo Ran opened his mouth and obediently swallowed the purple pill, eyes staring at Shi Mei's incomparably beautiful face the whole time.
Suddenly, just like in the last lifetime, the intense feelings of agitation made him lose all restraint—not that he was any kind of an honorable man to begin with—and he captured Shi Mei's wrist, quickly pressing their lips together before the other could react.
Instantly, sparks flew everywhere and his mind went totally blank.
He was a man with a sordid history of promiscuity, but passion between the sheets needed no contact between the lips, no unnecessary affections. Hence, his carnal entanglements were many, but his kisses pitifully few.
Shi Mei hadn't expected to be attacked like this at all, and froze in shock until a tongue intruded inside, and only then did he finally react and start struggling.
"What are you do-…mmf!" He only managed half a sentence before his face was turned back roughly and his lips covered once again. Mo Ran kissed more intensely than he had in the previous life. The two tangled into a heap by the side of the spring, Mo Ran keeping Shi Mei pressed firmly under his body as he kissed those moist, somewhat chilly lips, the touch breathtaking just like how he remembered it, and his cheek, and his ear…
"Stop moving…" The huskiness of his voice surprised even himself.
Fuck.
The spring water's effect seemed somehow more intense than in the last life?
The way things had gone in the previous lifetime, he hadn't actually got to embrace Shi Mei for that long. Back then, the young Mo Ran had been stricken by his conscience after getting only a few pecks in; his grip had loosened and Shi Mei had immediately gotten up and fled by treading across the water with qinggong.
But he was vile and shameless in this lifetime, with no conscience to strike him, only desire to urge him on. He kissed as much as he pleased, holding the other person down by the side of the spring.
Beneath him, Shi Mei struggled and cried out in anger, but his heart was already possessed, and he couldn't make out what the other was saying at all. He could only see that beautiful face swaying back and forth in his vision, that pair of moist, alluring lips opening and closing.
It felt as if a ball of fire had been ignited in his abdomen. Mo Ran gave in to his desires, his kisses growing increasingly more ravenous as he pried open the other's jaw and pushed his tongue in, plundering the sweetness inside.
His heart thudded like drumbeats in his chest.
Amidst the chaos, he had already ripped off Shi Mei's intricate outer robe and torn open his belt sash. His hand slid inside and caressed smooth, firm skin. The person underneath him jumped at the touch, but was again pressed back down by Mo Ran.
He bit at Shi Mei's ear, whispering, "Be obedient, it'll be good for both of us."
"Mo Weiyu——!!"
"Aiya aiya, are you that mad, to call me like a stranger?" Mo Ran smiled as he licked the other man's earlobe, hand not remaining idle either, groping directly toward his waist.
Shitty jackass Mo Ran, the sixteen year old budding jackass of that time indeed couldn't compare to the thirty two year old veteran jackass of the present!
This person's face grew thicker with each passing day!
Shi Mei's entire body was tense, and Mo Ran could feel him trembling slightly. Really, he looked like such a slender person, but the contours of his body were surprisingly toned under his hand.
His desires ran even more rampant, restraint slipping further as he pulled at the other's inner robes.
Shi Mei finally hit the limits of his endurance.
"Mo Weiyu! You're seeking death!!"
There was a loud bang, and a burst of powerful spiritual energy suddenly tossed him aside! Its power was ferocious, and Mo Ran got caught completely off guard. His entire body flipped over and slammed against a rock at the spring side, and he nearly spit out blood.
Shi Mei clutched at his disheveled clothing as he stood up, flustered. Golden spiritual energy crackled in a frenzy at his palm, sparks flying audibly, mirroring the fury in his eyes.
Mo Ran was dizzy from the impact, but still felt vaguely that something was wrong.
"Tianwen, come!"
Following the enraged bellow, a golden willow vine appeared in Shi Mei's hand as Tianwen answered the call. The willow vine glowed piercingly bright, streaks of fire and bursts of gold coursing along its length, willow leaves swirling in the air.
Mo Ran was stunned.
When did Shi Mei learn how to summon Tianwen?
The thought hadn't even settled in his mind before Tianwen ripped through the air toward him viciously! There was no restraint whatsoever behind the lashing, and the blood of the despicable scoundrel Taxian-Jun was spilt without mercy. If anyone like Rong Jiu who had suffered at Mo Ran's hands were to see this scene, they would surely clap and cheer, "Nice one! Awesome! Do it again! Vanquish the evil! What a good deed!"
Mo Ran finally sobered up under this relentless storm of brutal lashings.
Shi Mei is so gentle, how could this be him?
To be this practiced at whipping people, who else could it be but Chu Wanning!!!!
Chu Wanning's hand got tired from whipping, and only then did he pause to take a breath, rubbing his wrist. He was just about to continue when Mo Ran, leaning against the rock, suddenly coughed up a big mouthful of blood
"…No more, I'll really die…"
Mo Ran coughed up more blood and felt his heart sink to the depths of the abyss. That was definitely the best, the most remarkable, the highlight of his history of debauchery.
Why the fuck was it Chu Wanning who'd come?
What's more, Chu Wanning had Shi Mei's face for some reason, and even his voice sounded exactly the same!
He wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth and looked up, panting.
Perhaps it was due to the beating, or perhaps it was because the medicine Chu Wanning had given him earlier was finally starting to work, but when he raised his head this time, the person before him was no longer Shi Mei.
Chu Wanning seethed from where he stood under the tree, face gloomy as he glared at Mo Ran with eyes like twin bolts of lightning.
This vicious and enraged look of his really was frightening.
But…
Mo Ran stared for a few seconds.
And noticed that he…had grown shamelessly hard.
Chu Wanning always dressed immaculately, with not a hair out of place, but his intricate white robes, usually worn with the collars high and tightly closed, were now a disheveled mess held up only by the tight grip of his pale, slender hand. His lips were red and swollen from kisses, and love bites peppered the side of his neck. His expression was fierce, but that only added to the allure.
All those memories of Chu Wanning from the previous life, the insanity, the bloodlust, the hatred, the rampage, the conquest, the pleasure, all the memories that had piled up.
Mo Ran didn't want to think about it, hadn't planned on remembering any of it, but in this air, of the rusty tang of blood mixed with Hundred Butterfly Fragrance, the memories would not be subdued.
It swelled like the tide and flooded his thoughts.
Fuck, he absolutely cannot see Chu Wanning looking like this, after all.
Even if he loathed him, hated him, so much so that he wanted to chop him up and make him into wontons and eat him, Mo Ran still had to admit.
In the previous life, his most fervent entanglements, his most intense climaxes, all of it had been gotten off of Chu Wanning's body.
Hating him was one thing.
But as a man, especially a vulgar, shameless man like Mo Ran, the body's instinctive reaction was another matter altogether.
Chu Wanning let out a breath. He seemed truly furious, the hand holding Tianwen trembling slightly.
"Awake now?"
Mo Ran forced down a mouthful of blood: "…Yes, Shizun."
Chu Wanning seemed like he wasn't done with the beating yet, but he recognized that Mo Ran was under the influence of the illusion and shouldn't be blamed for all of it. He hesitated for a moment, but put the willow vine away in the end.
"What happened today…"
Mo Ran rushed to speak before he finished. "No one will know besides you and I! I absolutely won't say anything! Let the heavens strike me with lightning if I speak a word of it!"
Chu Wanning was quiet for a moment, then smiled grimly. "I've heard that swear of yours no fewer than a hundred times, and not a single time was serious."
"It's definitely serious this time!" Sure, his body had a reaction, but as far as Mo Ran was concerned, wanting to fuck Chu Wanning was like wanting to eat stinky tofu, neither should be brandished in public.
Just eat your stinky tofu in a corner away from others so they don't have to smell it. Wanting to bed Chu Wanning was the same.
Mo Ran had always loathed Chu Wanning. How could he let anyone know that he loathed him on one hand, but secretly wanted to fuck him on the other? What kinda disease was that?
And last life's sordid business with Chu Wanning? Spare him, he really didn't want to even mention it.
"This illusion's influence is strong, whoever you meet inside takes on the appearance of the person your heart most wants to see."
Chu Wanning explained as he walked alongside Mo Ran.
"You must remain calm and focused to avoid its influence."
"Oh…"
Huh? Wait a second!
Mo Ran suddenly thought of something, and quivered.
If it was like that, then the Shi Mei that he'd met in the illusory realm last life also might not have been Shi Mei? What if that had also been——
He snuck a sideways glance at Chu Wanning, and shivered again.
No way!
If that had been Chu Wanning he'd kissed in the last lifetime, he definitely would've gotten a good old round of whipping! Or a slap at the very very least!
It couldn't have been Chu Wanning! Definitely not!
As he was busy having an intense internal debate, Chu Wanning suddenly stopped and pulled Mo Ran behind him. "Quiet."
"What is it?"
"There's movement ahead."
Things had turned out completely different from the events of the previous life, so Mo Ran didn't know what to expect anymore. At Chu Wanning's words, he asked immediately, "Maybe it's Shi Mei?"
Chu Wanning frowned. "While in this illusory realm, you absolutely must not imagine who you might meet ahead, or else whoever or whatever you meet will take on that person's appearance. Remove distractions, focus your thoughts."
"..." Mo Ran tried, but couldn't do it.
Chu Wanning glanced at him. A dagger of concentrated spiritual energy formed in his hand, and jabbed unceremoniously into Mo Ran's arm.
"Ah——!"
"Don't yell." Chu Wanning had anticipated this; his other hand was already touching Mo Ran's lips with a golden light, and Mo Ran suddenly couldn't make a sound. "Does it hurt?"
"..." What do you think! Why don't you stab yourself too and see if it hurts!
Mo Ran nodded pitifully, eyes watering.
"Good. Focus on the pain and don't think about anything else. Follow behind me, let's go take a look."
Mo Ran silently cursed Chu Wanning as he followed quietly behind him on the winding path. Unexpectedly, the sounds of chatter and laughter could be heard as they got closer, truly suspicious in such a desolate place.
After going around a tall, continuous wall, the two finally arrived at the place the voices were coming from——
It was a manor draped in vibrant colors, brightly lit, red silks swaying gently. There were well over a hundred banquet tables in the large courtyard, holding all manners of exquisite dishes. The place was bustling with activity, guests drinking and making merry.
Past the open gates of the main hall was a massive, eye-catching Xi[5] character in bright scarlet; it seemed to be a wedding banquet by all appearances.
"Shizun…" Mo Ran whispered. "Look at these people…they don't